OBJECTIVE Pleiotropic atheroprotective effects of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors may be mediated on the level of vascular gene transcription. The aim of this study was to characterize the effects of statins on the activation of transcription factors known to regulate inflammation and cell proliferation/differentiation. METHODS AND RESULTS Simvastatin, atorvastatin, and lovastatin (0.1 to 10 mic...

Topical lovastatin stimulates epidermal fatty acid synthesis in vivo; therefore, studies were undertaken to examine the effects of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors on fatty acid metabolism in cultured keratinocytes. When exposed to fluindostatin or lovastatin for greater than or equal to 24 h, keratinocytes in serum-free media accumulated nile red-fluorescent lipid droplets. By 72 h, the triacylgly...

The HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) are used extensively in the treatment of hyperlipidemia. They have also demonstrated a benefit in a variety of other disease processes. These secondary actions are known as pleiotropic effects. Our paper serves as a focused and updated discussion on the pleiotropy of statins and emphasizes the importance of randomized placebo-controlled trials to furth...

The 10-kb deletion ("French Canadian mutation") of the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor gene is the most common mutation causing familial hypercholesterolemia among subjects of French Canadian descent. In affected subjects, it results in a null allele of the LDL receptor gene and provides a unique opportunity to examine single-allele regulation of this gene in humans. We sought to ascerta...

Clotrimazole and triadimefon are known as potent inhibitors of ergosterol synthesis in pathogenic yeast and fungi, respectively. As their mode of action generally the inhibition of sterol desmethylation reactions is accepted. We report about a second effect, a "feed-back" inhibition of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl (HMG)-CoA-reductase by accumulation of ergosterol precursors. Addition of lanoster...

Finding new therapies to assist in the treatment of cancer is a major challenge of clinical research. Small molecules that inhibit different molecular targets at the different levels of the MAPK pathway have been developed. Several MEK inhibitors have been examined in early-phase clinical trials and the current state of clinical results using these therapies is presented here.

AIMS AND METHODS To describe patients with decreased libido during use of a HMG-CoA-reductase-inhibitor, and to discuss causality and pharmacological hypotheses for this association by analysis of the adverse drug reactions (ADR) database of the Netherlands Pharmacovigilance Centre Lareb. RESULTS Eight patients were identified as having decreased libido during use of statins. In two of these ...

It has been previously demonstrated that the enzymic activity of rat liver 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase; EC 1.1.1.34) is modulated in vitro and in vivo by a bicyclic cascade system involving reversible phosphorylation of HMG-CoA reductase and reductase kinase. In the present study, administration of mevalonolactone to rats caused a rapid inhibition of HMG-C...

OBJECTIVE To review the efficacy and safety of atorvastatin in the treatment of dyslipidemias. DATA SOURCES A MEDLINE search (January 1960-April 1998), Current Contents search, additional references listed in articles, and unpublished data obtained from the manufacturer were used to identify data from scientific literature. Studies evaluating atorvastatin (i.e., abstracts, clinical trials, pr...